Pietro Anastasi

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Anastasi was born in Catania, Sicily. During his career (1964–1982), he played for Massiminiana, Varese, Juventus, Internazionale and Ascoli. In Serie A, he played 338 matches and scored 105 goals (For Juventus, he played 205 games and scored 78 goals). Although he never won the Serie A Top Goalscorer award, he was the third highest goalscorer in the League on three occasions, during the 1968–69, 1969–70 and 1973–74 seasons. He made his professional debut with Missiminiana di Catania in Serie D, showing promising goalscoring prowess during the 1965–66 season, in which he scored 18 goals. He was subsequently purchased by Varese in Serie B, the team with which he gained promotion to Serie A, scoring six goals in 37 matches, and making his Serie A debut in the 1967–68 season on 24 September 1967, against Fiorentina, at the age of nineteen. During his first season in Serie A, he scored an impressive 11 goals, three of which were scored in Varese's shocking 5–0 win over Juventus on 4 February 1968, a performance which enabled him to be called up to the Italy national side. Due to his precocious performances, he was purchased by Juventus in 1968 for a world record of 650 million Lire at the time, and with the Turin club, he won three Serie A titles, also helping the club to the final of the last edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 1971, a tournament in which he was top scorer, with ten goals. Juventus were defeated by Leeds in the final, however. In 1974, Anastasi was named the club's captain. He currently holds the record for the most goals in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by a Juventus player (12), as well as the all-time record for goals in the Coppa Italia by a Juventus player (30). Alongside Roberto Baggio, he is the joint tenth highest goal-scorer for Juventus in Serie A, with 78 goals, the joint fourth all-time Juventus goalscorer in European competitions, and the joint fifth all-time Juventus goalscorer in International competitions, with 22 goals. He is also the seventh-highest all-time goalscorer for the club in all competitions. With Juventus, he was also the top-scorer of the 1974–75 edition of the Coppa Italia, in which Juventus reached the second round, finishing second in their group, and missing the final by a single point. Anastasi also reached the final of the 1972–73 European Cup with Juventus, where they were defeated 1–0 by Ajax. In total,

In Their Own Story

On 8 June 1968, Anastasi made his international debut in the first leg of the Euro final against Yugoslavia at the Stadio Olimpico. Two days later, in the replay, he netted a right-footed volley from outside the box to seal Italy’s 2–0 victory. At just 20 years and 64 days, he became the youngest ever scorer in a European Championship final. Later that year, he was set for the World Cup but was ruled out by injury. He returned for the 1974 tournament, scoring against Haiti as Italy failed to progress from the group stage. His international career included 25 caps and eight goals between 1968 and 1975.

Reader's Guide

With the Italy national team, Anastasi was a member of the squad that won the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship on home soil, a tournament during which he made his international debut during the first leg of the final against Yugoslavia at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 8 June, which ended in a 1–1 draw. In the final replay against the same opponent two days later, he also scored his first international goal, the second goal in Italy's 2–0 victory, with a right-footed volley from just outside the area; with this goal, he became the youngest player ever to score in a European Championship final, at the age of 20 years and 64 days. He was initially set to take part in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico with Italy, but he was unable to participate due to injury. In his place, and that of midfielder Giovanni Lodetti, two strikers were called up by manager Ferruccio Valcareggi: Roberto Boninsegna and Pierino Prati, as Italy went on to reach the final. Anastasi also participated at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, scoring one goal in the team's 3–1 victory against Haiti in the first round, although Italy failed to advance from their group. In total, he played 25 international matches for Italy between 1968 and 1975, scoring 8 goals.

Did You Know?

• Anastasi was nicknamed 'il Pelé bianco' ('the white Pelé') by Juventus fans.
• He scored a hat-trick in Varese's 5–0 win over Juventus in 1968, which led to his transfer to Juventus.
• He was the top scorer of the 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup with ten goals.
• Anastasi scored his 100th Serie A goal in a 3–2 win over his former club Juventus in December 1979.